One of Coventry’s oldest established engineering firms has undergone a transformation to make it a market leader in the production of lightweight components to the automotive industry.
Sarginsons, based on Torrington Avenue, has invested around £2.5 million in the last three years, amongst other things, to complete a full foundry floor rebuild to allow it make efficiency improvements to its low pressure casting capability.
Part of that has included introducing large scale low-pressure casting machines and the installation of four new melting furnaces and eight new holding furnaces, which have been part funded by a grant from the European Regional Development Fund through the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
That investment will greatly reduce the firm’s energy consumption and improve the working environment for its employees, whilst significantly increasing its capacity.
Anthea McIntyre, MEP for the West Midlands, was given a guided tour of the new facilities this week.
The MEP, who is the Conservative Spokesman on Employment in the European Parliament, said: “I think it’s really encouraging to see today what is being done for manufacturing, and how it is bringing in further investment and jobs.
“I am really glad to see jobs coming from abroad back here into the UK. Business here has good links with the two universities and we are talking about high-tech manufacturing and quality production.”
Roy Sims, Chief Executive at Sarginsons Industries, said: “Sarginsons is the most technically sophisticated aluminium die-caster in the UK and by having the most up-to-date equipment and through the adoption of the most modern manufacturing techniques, an industry previously considered dirty, even unfashionable, is now able to deliver some of the most innovative products in the world.
“We have a vision and a plan to ensure Sarginsons grows its position as a leading innovator in die casting, fully capable of supporting our local and global manufacturers with specialist expertise in the delivery of complex components as the light weighting revolution in vehicle production increases demand.
“There is an enormous push to replace heavier metals with lighter aluminium alloys, driven by the need to increase fuel efficiencies.
“We believe that by investing heavily in our people, by having the most up-to-date equipment and through an ingrained desire to be the best in our sector, we will provide our customers with a stable UK supplier.”
Sarginsons was established more than 75 years ago and now counts Jaguar Land Rover, Caterpillar, Bosch, JCB, Aston Martin, Rotork among its client base.
Sims added: “Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership have been of huge assistance to Sarginsons as we navigate the myriad of support organisations out there.
“They have supported us in the design of training plans for our employees each matching our business needs, and helped support our liaison with grant bodies and with Government funding programmes. It has been refreshing to work with the Enterprise partnership, which has such a proactive, commercially aware approach.”
Ann Lucas, leader of Coventry City Council, and a LEP board member added: “Sarginsons is a well-known and long established name on the Coventry industrial landscape and we are very pleased to have been able to help them though the LEP which is doing the business for more and more local firms.”